Cases Spike, Scurlock Autopsy Outcry, Janicek Feels Bullied and More Top Local News for Monday, June 29

• A haze hangs over Omaha as dust from the Saharan Desert has blown north from Texas and the Caribbean.
• History Nebraska’s David Bristow talked about the racist past of Henry Burke as calls continue to remove his name from a local high school.
• Black community leaders held a listening session to hear the voices of young, engaged Omahans and figure out how to move forward.
• Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine released the autopsy results of James Scurlock over the weekend to harsh criticism from the community as well as the 22-year-old’s family.
• Omaha community leaders and activists had mixed opinions on announced changes to policing.
• With large celebrations canceled, firework vendors say their sales are skyrocketing. First responders offered safety advice. And here are some places where you can see public firework displays.
• Midtown Omaha is getting a seven-story, $17.5 million hotel on the corner of 44th and Douglas streets. Not far away, on 46th and California streets, a $5 million project to build townhomes is slated for construction.
• Omaha’s meatpacking plants were always dangerous for a workforce overwhelmingly made up of immigrants. Then COVID-19 hit.
• Fifty North Omaha pastors will receive training to help families in crisis, part of a partnership between the Douglas County Community Response and the Empowerment Network.
• A woman gave birth to her child in a car speeding down the West Dodge Expressway.
• Omaha Public Schools announced its fall plan, which includes dividing the student body in half and staggering students in school and learning at home.
• Chris Janicek said he feels like he’s being bullied out of the race for U.S. Senate as citizens and state leaders continue to call for his resignation.
• Lincoln-based Union Bank and Trust will build a five-story office building on the corner of 144th and West Dodge streets.
• Four dozen people gathered along North 24th Street to pick up trash, an existing monthly event now brought under the area’s new business improvement district.
• Several former dancers at Club Omaha are suing the business for classifying them as private contractors instead of employees, causing them to lose out on extra pay and benefits.
• The petition for medical marijuana in Nebraska has until Thursday to reach 180,000 signatures.

Around the State

• After weeks of steady decline, daily COVID-19 cases saw a sharp uptick on Sunday.
• Military members who assisted with COVID-19 testing will get at least $150 of hazard pay a month due to a provision added to a bill by U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.
• A $25,000 grant will help educate future rural Nebraskan homebuilders.
• As many people in the state return to restaurants, bars and life as usual, State Sen. Mike Moser, of Columbus, who’s still recovering from COVID-19, said it’s nothing to mess around with.
• With the announcement of a prison crowding emergency on the horizon, Black community leaders say if state leaders want to ease correctional tensions, they need to stop arresting so many young Black people.
• University of Nebraska Board of Regents called for $43 million in cuts across the university system.
• State inspectors cited three nursing homes with failing to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in their facilities.